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NEWSLETTER

SOCIETY OF CALIFORNIAARCHIVISTS

ISSN 1931-5473Number 149 Winter 2014

2014 AnnuAl GenerAl MeetinG in PAlM SPrinGS

The 2014 Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place May 8th to 10th in sunny Palm Springs. The meeting will be held at the stunning Renaissance Palm Springs Hotel, located in the downtown Palm

Springs area and within walking distance to fabulous shops, restaurants, and cultural institutions. The 410-room Renaissance Hotel is an impressive ho-tel, with a spectacular lobby and amazing pool. The rooms are well-appointed and updated. It is an easy walk to restaurants and bars; a free shuttle is also available that will transport guests within a 3 mile radius which easily covers trips to and from the air-port. If you are driving to the conference, on-site parking is $10 a day while valet is $18, and the ho-tel offers in-out privileges. The room rate for attend-ees is $149 per night for single or double occupancy and will be in effect for three days pre- and post-meeting. The hotel offers a complimentary business center and free Wi-Fi in the lobby and other public areas including the restaurant and lounge.

Both the program committee and the local arrange-ments committee are hard at work to make this AGM a success. The theme for this year’s AGM is “Archives and the Public.” Exploring the importance of this topic for today’s archivists, sessions will ex-amine, among other things, specific cases where privacy and public access have conflicted, a success-ful program for archival outreach to teenagers, and archives and National History Day. There’s more though: always critical concerns such as processing and technology are in the program. In all, this year’s AGM offers a full view of topics and problems that we, as archivists, find important for our profession.

The opening reception will take place at Sunnylands Center & Gardens on Thursday, May 8th. Designed by Mid-Century Modern architect A. Quincy Jones, Sunnylands was the winter home of Ambassador Walter Annenberg and his wife Leonore. During the reception, attendees can check out the exhibition “The Pleasure of Your Company: Entertaining at

I n T h i s I s s u eAGM Palm Springs 1President’s Message 2Collection Spotlight 5

News /Annoucements 9SCA News 13 Calendar 17

Edmund G. (Pat) Brown and dEsi arnaz in Palm sPrinGs (1905.00002 Brown, Edmund G.-113; Portrait FilE oF thE

BancroFt liBrary

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Number 149 Winter 2014SCA NEWSLETTER

President’s Report—Winter 2014

Happy New Year, California archivists!

This traditionally convivial time of year seems appropriate for rolling out a new SCA initiative, with the goal of bringing archivists together more often throughout the year. I encourage YOU, as SCA members, to plan small and enjoyable professional gatherings in your neighborhood, with support from SCA.

Would you like to invite colleagues to a site visit to your repository, or one nearby? Would you like to gather archivists for a focused discussion on a specific topic, or to hear a guest speaker? Maybe there’s a webinar available that would be more engaging to watch and discuss with a group. Or perhaps a social and networking gathering would appeal? SCA is ready to support member-initiated events throughout the state. We can provide funds for light refreshments, cover modest expenses for speakers or webinar fees, or even offer small honoraria for some kinds of events. We can also help you contact colleagues in your region and get the word out.

An overwhelming number of respondents to the Fall 2012 Strategic Planning survey voiced an interest in more face-to-face events and educational opportunities. In response, the Board has set aside funds, outlined suggested event types, established funding levels for each, and sketched out a process for getting quick approval and reimbursement. We hope the process will be low on red tape for everyone! This is a bit of an experiment for 2014, but we hope it will prove to be both popular and sustainable in years to come.

We plan to roll out full details very early in 2014 via the SCA website, with announcements via member email and the WestArch listserv. It’s not too soon to look at your calendar and cook up an event near you! I look forward to hearing about some local gatherings, accomplished or planned, when we assemble for our Annual General Meeting in Palm Springs.

James EasonPresident

The SocieTy of california archiviSTS, inc.

The Society of California Archivists, Inc. exists to support and develop those who collect, care for, and provide access to the documentary heritage of California and adjoining areas. To this end it:

1. acts as a vehicle for dissemination of information about archival collections, issues, and methodology to the profession and the public;2. provides a forum for the discussion of matters related to the creation, preservation, and use of historical documents;3. develops, offers and supports archival education programs;4. cooperates with individuals and organizations on matters of common concern; and5. advocates the identification, collection, preservation, use, and appreciation of historical records and manuscripts.

The SCA Newsletter is published quarterly in January, April, July, and October. All submissions, advertisements for future issues, letters to the editors, and inquiries regarding the newsletter should be directed to the Editors of the Newsletter:

Newsletter Editors The Bancroft Library University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, California 94720-6000 Email(s): [email protected]

Copy Deadlines: September 1, December 1, March 1, & June 1

Format for Submissions: Articles and other items submitted for consideration should be sent via e-mail attachment.

Newsletter editors and layout designers: Lara Michels, Michele Morgan, Joanna Black, Emily Vigor, and Jeff Sahaida

www.calarchivists.org ©2014

P r e S i d e n t ’ S M e S S A G e


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Sunnylands” and enjoy the sculptures, artwork, and panoramic views of the San Jacinto Mountains.

While in Palm Springs, don’t forget to check out all that Palm Springs has to offer! Make time or extend your stay to visit one of the many cultural institu-tions in the area including the Agua Caliente Mu-seum, Palm Springs Air Museum, the Palm Springs Art Museum, and the Palm Springs Historical Soci-ety. Also, a must do for the nature lover is a trip to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. It’s the world’s

largest rotating tramcar and the 10 minute ride provides spectacular views of the surrounding area. Have a coffee or some lunch at the restaurant and enjoy the views or set off on the hiking trails to get a glimpse of local flora and fauna.

If you can, try and squeeze in a performance of the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies. The Last Hurrah! is the farewell show for the much loved Broadway-caliber performance. The final production will be on May 18, 2014. Also, stroll along the streets of El Paseo known as the “Rodeo Drive of the Desert.” An-other interesting thing to note is that Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley are considered “The Date Capital of the World.” Shields Date Garden was es-tablished in 1924 and ever since, the family-owned business continues to grow its own dates without the use of chemical fertilizers or pesticides. There is a store and also a café where you can sample a variety of dates and even try a date shake!

Stay tuned for more information as program details are fine-tuned and get ready to enjoy a great meet-ing in this dessert oasis!

Katie RichardsonLocal Arrangements Committee

AGM PAlM SPrinGS (continued from p. 1)

© thE annEnBErG Foundation trust at sunnylands.


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During my career I have had the privilege to par-ticipate in the digitization of several obsolete

audio-visual recording formats: U-Matic (3/4”) vid-eotapes, 1/4” open reel audiotape, 16mm film, ADAT audio tape, optical sound reels, 1/2” open reel video-tape, and that epitome of obsolete a/v, the 2” Quad-raplex videotape. But not until last October did I have the chance to digitize a 1/4” tape cartridge, the kind that KCPR DJs used in their broadcasts prior to the mid-90s.

These tape cartridges, or “tape carts” as they were known, were heavily used at KCPR in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Their cartridge body is similar to the cartridges of 8-track tapes, but there are enough dif-ferences that they require a unique playback ma-chine, not surprisingly known as a “cart machines.” When the Robert E. Kennedy Library’s Special Col-lections and Archives department acquired the tape carts (along with paper documents, open reel au-diotapes, CDs, and other digital media) in August, we learned that the cart machines are increasingly hard to find, much less purchase, as they were jet-tisoned from radio studios across the country during the mid-1990s when digital technology replaced the tape-based production and broadcast environment.

Fortunately, one of KCPR’s former DJ-engineers, Len Filomeo (Electrical Engineering,1975) learned about the Library acquiring the tape cartridges in August, and began the search for a cart machine. Corporation) brand cart machines from a hobbyist in the Bay Area who is currently collecting vintage radio broadcast technology. The hobbyist allowed Len to borrow the cart machines for a few days, and Len brought the machines to the Special Collections and Archives department, where the KCPR tape carts are found as part of the department’s Univer-sity Archives.

Len and I spent the bulk of the day digitizing over 100 tape carts which contained all manner of con-tent, dating primarily to the early and mid 1990s. Len explained that the tapes were routinely erased and re-recorded, and so this series of tape carts rep-resents a snapshot of the last time tape carts were used regularly at KCPR. During the midst of the digitization frenzy, with stacks of carts occupying several spaces on our workstation, Len pointed out,

COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT

diGitizinG KCPr tAPe CArtridGeS

“This is what the DJ booth would look like in those days.”

We discovered brief promos for radio shows (for ex-ample, “Burnt Dog Radio” or “Gumbo Beats and Harmony Grits”), celebrity station identification announcements (my favorite being from George “P-Funk” Clinton), impassioned sports play-by-play calls, news reports, announcements of live concerts in the area, a series of recordings in honor of Black History month, pledge drive pleas, and several other treasures, often delivered in the zany, off-color way that college radio DJs specialize in.

At the end of the day, Len and I felt satisfied with the rescue mission, though there were a few tapes that had trouble playing. (Len suggested that, in a pinch, we could remove the tape from the cartridges, and wind them on a standard 1/4” open reel). We had preserved a slice of KCPR history from a spe-cific time, and subsequently Special Collections and Archives has made the recordings available to the public where other KCPR alumni have identified

Photo courtEsy oF zach VowEll.

(continued on p. 6)


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(through a Facebook group page) unidentified voices on the recordings and greatly enriched the tape cart recordings’ metadata.

Follow the link http://bit.ly/kcpr_carts to listen to the recordings that Len and I digitized that October day.

“SidebAr” Contributed by len FiloMeo

During the era of the cart machine, most of KCPR’s programming consisted of playing album tracks from vinyl LPs and CDs. The programming was punctuated with one or more station breaks every hour. These breaks allowed KCPR to perform its station identifications and helped it fulfill its public service obligations by airing spot announcements for community-oriented activities and programs around Cal Poly and San Luis Obispo. Some of these pub-lic service announcements were read live by the DJs (from typewritten cards kept in a box labeled “Cards to be read on the air”) but many of them were pre-recorded on tape. KCPR would also record sound ef-fects, jingles, promotional announcements and news reports on tape. Pre-recording allowed background music to be added and multiple performers to par-ticipate in the recording and editing of the spots.

The pre-recorded spots started out being recorded and played back on open-reel tape decks, which re-quired the DJs to do a lot of threading, manual cue-ing and rewinding of the tapes in the control room. Dubbing the spots onto tape cartridges solved most of these problems. All the DJ had to do is insert the cartridge in the cart machine and press the Play button to playback the spot on the air. The car-tridges even recued themselves so they were ready to play the next time they were needed. Cart ma-chines compatible with the standard NAB Cartridge format were rapidly adopted by radio and TV sta-tions around the world as the preferred method for playing spots on the air.

The NAB carts ran at 7-1/2 inches per second, which was twice the speed of the more familiar consumer format known as 8-track cartridges, which allowed the NAB carts to achieve broadcast fidelity. The NAB carts also differed from the 8-track cartridge in that they depended on the cart machine to pro-vide the pressure roller. In the 8-track cartridge, the

KCPr TAPe CArTridGeS(continued from p. 5)

(continued on p. 7)


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pressure roller was built into the cartridge rather than the cart machine. This innovation greatly sim-plified the design of 8-track cart machines and en-abled them to be used in automotive and portable applications. However, the 8-track cartridges could not start quickly enough to suit the demands for on-air playback, so the broadcasters remained with the NAB cartridges.

The original NAB cart machines were monophonic and suitable for use at AM and TV stations. The rapid growth of FM stereo stations in the 1960s and 70s led to the introduction of stereo cart machines. KCPR started out as a mono FM station in 1968 and used mono cart machines until after the station went stereo in 1976. KCPR subsequently transi-tioned to stereo cart machines, which remained in service until they were displaced by digital playback systems around the turn of the century.

Zach VowellSpecial Collections and ArchivesRobert E. Kennedy LibraryCalifornia Polytechnic State University

KCPR Tape Cartridges (continued from p. 6)

COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT

A unique CollAborAtion: FreShMen orientAtion & SPeCiAl ColleCtionS

In March 2013, the University of Southern Cali-fornia’s American History Librarian was asked to

oversee the libraries’ orientation programs. One of these programs included a series of Academic Suc-cess Workshops for incoming freshmen and transfer students held throughout the summer. Since these workshops were not mandatory, and were offered during the same timeslot as fifteen other Academic Success Workshops sponsored by departments from across campus, the libraries’ workshops needed to stand out from the crowd. With input from col-leagues and student workers, several objectives were decided upon: (1) instead of trying to teach specific skills, the emphasis would be on making a positive first impression. This would involve creating fun and engaging experiences with the aim of piquing students’ curiosity in order to entice them to come back to learn more about the libraries in the fall; (2) to show how a university library differs from a high school library; (3) to help students overcome any in-timidation/anxiety they might have about using the libraries or approaching librarians and library staff for assistance; (4) to give students “hands-on” expe-riences and small successes in using the libraries.

By the end of April 2013, a one-hour orientation cur-riculum had been devised in collaboration with USC Special Collections’ Exile Studies Librarian. The first half of the workshop would take place in USC’s flagship library, Doheny Memorial Library, which also houses USC’s Special Collections. After welcom-ing the attendees in the lobby we divided them into smaller groups and gave them various “hands-on” activities to complete. All of the activities were de-signed to get the students to explore the library and to interact with library staff (e.g., locating a specific book on the shelf and then finding out how long they could check it out for; searching for an e-book by nav-igating the libraries’ website and then finding out how much it costs to print out a chapter; and finding out how to reserve a group study room in one of the libraries). After the groups completed these short, fifteen minute hands-on activities they were led up to the Special Collections department where they would report back about what they learned, followed by a ten minute PowerPoint presentation on the var-ious libraries and study spaces available on campus.

(continued on p. 8)

Photo courtEsy oF zach VowEll.


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This left approximately twenty minutes for the Spe-cial Collections librarians and archivists to intro-duce Special Collections through a “Petting Zoo” that allowed students to interact with some of the most exciting and unique materials in USC’s collections. The items that were initially put out on display in-cluded: an antiphony manuscript dated around 1300 and a copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle as represen-tatives of our Rare Book collection; color glass slides and vintage California postcards from our Regional History Collection; vintage USC buttons and year-books from the USC Archives; Latin American art-ists’ books and a 1611 copy of Don Quixote from our Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies.

A brief introduction to Special Collections addressed frequently asked questions such as What is Special Collections? How do they differ from circulating col-lections in the other libraries on campus? Why are primary sources important and what differentiates them from secondary sources? Who can come to Spe-cial Collections? and Where can students consult the materials? In addition, we informally quizzed the students to give them a sense of the range of materi-als the department holds but more importantly to provide an explanation about the security measures in place which might intimidate students from com-ing to Special Collections in the first place. We asked them to guess the age of the oldest object in Spe-cial Collections (Answer: a fossilized mastodon bone from the La Brea Tar Pits, at least 10,000 years old), what they thought was the size of our smallest book (a 20 millimeter Marvel miniature book The Amaz-ing Spiderman), and what they thought was the most expensive item in Special Collections (Birds of America by John James Audubon).

The students who attended the first workshop were so captivated by the items we mentioned in the quiz, especially by the miniature book, The Amazing Spi-derman, that we decided to have it available for stu-dents to handle during the next seven workshops. Over the course of the first several workshops we experimented with introducing different items, ob-serving which materials seemed to excite and en-gage the students most. At the end of each work-shop we asked students to give us feedback, asking them to list the top two things they learned about the USC Libraries that they would be most likely to share with other freshmen. Twenty-five percent of

students who responded mentioned something they learned in Special Collections. The next most com-mon piece of information they would be likely to share had to do with the locations of various libraries on campus (sixteen percent of students mentioned this). Here are some of the comments students made about Special Collections:

“I really enjoyed the ‘petting zoo.’ The library has many interesting things to offer.”“Thank you, what an experience it was to witness such historical treasures! Great ‘petting zoo.’”“Good: the special collections and seeing and touch-ing them were awesome.”

“See the rare books! Take advantage of the opportu-nity to see treasures in person!”“Items that are unbelievably valuable and unique are available to students!.... I honestly did not come with expectations but I was wowed”“Visiting the special collections area is probably the best way to spend your afternoon.”“Special Collections with a lot of interesting books and good primary sources”“The quality of the archives and manuscripts here. 50 years after print was invented? Amazing!”“Special collections had a book worth over $8 mil-lion.”

As these statements reveal, we were successful in achieving our goals of engaging and exciting stu-dents, and USC’s Special Collections deserves the majority of the credit. We did encounter some chal-lenges in trying to pull these eight workshops off, however. The main hurdle was the sheer number of library staff needed, both for the hands-on activities

(continued on p. 9)

A UniqUe CollAborATion (continued from p. 7)

Photo courtEsy oF rachEllE Balinas-smith.


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A UniqUe CollAborATion (continued from p. 8)

at the beginning and the petting zoo in Special Col-lections--at times up to ten librarians and staff par-ticipated in a single workshop. Overall though, all of the librarians and staff who participated felt the effort was well worth their while, and feedback from students returning to the library in the fall after at-tending one of these sessions has revealed that we made a lasting and positive impression. workshop. Overall though, all of the librarians and staff who participated felt the effort was well worth their while, and feedback from students returning to the library in the fall after attending one of these ses-sions has revealed that we made a lasting and posi-tive impression. Elizabeth Namei, Reference and Instruction LibrarianMichaela Ullman, Exile Studies Librarian

NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

Effective October 31, 2013, the SLAC Archives and History Office staff has been reduced by

one FTE, due to FY2014 US Department of Energy budget constraints. Laura O’Hara, Past President of SCA who has been with the SLAC Archives and His-tory Office since 1996, was laid off from her position as SLAC’s Associate Archivist. Jean Deken will con-tinue as the Manager of the SLAC Archives and His-tory Office and the SLAC Research Library, dividing her time between those two areas.

Jean Marie Deken, C.A., M.A., M.L.I.S.Archivist and Manager

Photo courtEsy oF rachEllE Balinas-smith.


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“I was my father’s seventh son born on the seventh day of the week and the seventh day of the month. My father was a seventh child and the name ‘Kellogg has seven letters.” -Will Keith Kellogg

tAleS FroM the ArChiveS: 75 yeArS oF CAl Poly PoMonA CAMPuS hiStory

MovinG iMAGe reSourCeS on diSPlAy At loS AnGeleS ArChiveS bAzAAr

(continued on p. 11)

Returning as reliably as football to the campus each fall, the 8th Annual Los Angeles Archives

Bazaar was held at the Doheny Memorial Library at the University of Southern California on October 12, 2013. With free admission to both the exhibit hall and an array of varied, imaginative program-ming, the event ranks as a favorite among archi-vists, librarians, historic preservationists, scholars, researchers, students and history buffs.

Not surprisingly, repositories highlighting the histo-ry of film and television are well represented at the

In honor of the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the California State Polytechnic University, Po-

mona campus, “tales” were told in the Special Col-lections and University Archives from 1938 to pres-ent day. Tales of students applying the “learn by doing” teaching approach were told through the lens of a student back in the 1970s who built an unau-thorized treehouse to code on campus behind the Administration building. Tales were told of women’s history as the campus was entirely a male popula-tion until 1961. Tales were told from long before 75 years ago when a Gabrielino Indian metate bowl - dating around 200 to 7,000 years old- was unearthed during construction of the Science building back in 1974. Tales were told of one of the founding fathers and cereal magnate, Will Keith Kellogg, and his fas-cination with the number 7 through an engaging ac-tivity for attendees to view the exhibit of the same name and “Find all 7 of the hidden 75s” in the ex-hibit cases. In honor of Kellogg’s fascination with the number 7, students were invited to pick up a Library Passport and visit the 7 Wonders of the Library (the 7 Library Service desks) and get all 7 stamps for a chance to win surPRIZES. The University Archives was the 7th Wonder of the Library nicknamed “Co-lossus of Campus History.” Unwittingly in honor of the number 7, the campus saw 7 name changes since 1938, which were displayed on an iPad in an exhibit case with a replica of the campus’ electronic marquee that rotated each name change from “Cali-fornia Polytechnic School, Voorhis Unit” (1938-1941)

to “California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (1972-present). The campus continues to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the campus with the theme: “Honor the Past, Celebrate the Present, and Build the Future.” Tales from the Archives, Part II will be presented during National Library Week 2014 where more tales will be told in the Special Collec-tions and University Archives at Cal Poly Pomona University Library.

Natalie Zagami Lopez Archival Assistant Cal Poly Pomona University Library

bazaar. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ famed Margaret Herrick Library and the Writers Guild Foundation Library & Archive have long been two critical resources for researchers. The UCLA Film & Television Archive’s world-renowned collection of film, television and newsreels were augmented by UCLA Library’s Special Collections, whose materials ranging from correspondence, stills and posters related to the entertainment industry are rich, yet perhaps less well known. Hollywood Heritage, housed in the original Lasky DeMille Barn (est. 1913) across from the Hollywood Bowl (whose


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own archive is worth noting in this context), is a mu-seum devoted to the early days of the industry and the neighborhood of Hollywood in its heyday. For those interested in the further-flung geography of film and television, the Culver City Historical So-ciety sheds light on the city’s role as the “Heart of Screenland,” and Pacific Palisades Historical So-ciety along with Palisades-based La Sen͂ora Re-search Institute provide additional resources.

Visual Communications, with significant holdings of Asian Pacific and Asian Pacific American films from its 29-year film festival, occupied a table this year. Also of note: The Mayme A. Clayton Library & Museum holds an array of materials related to African-Americans in entertainment at its Culver City facility and the ONE National Gay & Lesbi-an Archives is housed at USC Libraries. Both or-ganizations’ moving image collections (along with those of Outfest) are deposited at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. Exhibits by Ayn Rand Archives (touching on the author’s screenwriting career) and Bison Archives (an extraordinary collection of early Hollywood photos collected by film historian Marc Wannamaker and now at the Academy’s Margaret

Herrick Library) rounded out the category.Moving images showed up again on the program-ming side. Snowden Becker, program manager for UCLA’s Moving Image Archive Studies M.A. pro-gram, delivered a highly entertaining run-down of “what it takes” to be an archivist—of any specializa-tion. And at the end of the day, bazaar attendees were privileged to view a section of THE GOOD GI-ANTS, a documentary currently in production focus-ing on the Buffalo Soldiers, an all-black, segregated infantry regiment in World War II. The film will feature Los Angeles native Ivan Houston; and Di-rector Joe Hartnett, Mr. Houston and other family members were on hand for the discussion.

The Los Angeles Archives Bazaar is presented by L.A. as Subject, a research alliance originally launched in connection with the Getty Research Institute’s four-year research project of that name (1995-1999). The group is dedicated to preserving and providing access to archival materials of Los Angeles history.

Cornelia Emerson, Ph.D.Arts/Cultural Heritage/Higher Education

MovinG iMAGeS (continued from p. 10)



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new deAl MAteriAlS in your ColleCtionS?

Two years ago, the Living New Deal expanded from documenting the enormous but largely

unseen legacy of New Deal public works in Califor-nia alone to the entire United States. Most of these public works were duly celebrated when completed, then quickly taken for granted and forgotten except in yellowed documents and newspaper clippings in scattered archives. At 5000 sites (and counting), we have only scratched the surface of a buried civili-zation built 80 years ago. Now, with the aid of a grant from the UC California Humanities Institute’s California Studies Consortium, the Living New Deal is turning back to California to more fully uncover what New Deal agencies did for the Golden State during the Great Depression.

California’s libraries and archives contain a wealth of often unique items containing the information we need. The State Archives, for example, has a three-volume newspaper clipping scrapbook appar-ently compiled by a WPA administrator in the San Joaquin Valley. The clippings reveal that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) improved virtually every city and small town in the valley with pub-lic schools, parks, city halls, paved roads and side-walks, sewers, clean water, and/or airports and air-strips. Meanwhile, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) improved the national and state parks – the largest system of any state and huge postwar tourist magnets. The Public Works Administration (PWA), Bureau of Reclamation and Corps of Engineers built the dams and canals that helped make California the most productive agricultural state in the nation.

Other collections include one-off items such as a fo-lio volume in the Fremont Public Library of historic sites in Alameda County illustrated with lovely wa-ter color drawings by a WPA-employed artist. Es-pecially useful are collections of photographs of the activities sponsored by the WPA, CCC, PWA, and other New Deal agencies. We would particularly like to locate maps of CCC camps across California.

If you know of any such items in your collections, please contact [email protected] or call 510-642-5987. You can help make California the best documented of all of the states and territories.

PAPerS oF oCtAviA e. butler oPen For reSeArCh

The Huntington Library is pleased to announce that the Papers of Octavia E. Butler are open for

research.

Born in Pasadena, California, Octavia E. Butler (1947-2006), was the first female African-American science fiction author. Not only honored with the top awards of her field, the Hugo and the Nebula, she was the first science fiction author to be awarded a prestigious MacArthur “Genius” grant. Butler’s work employs science fiction and fantasy devices to weave together themes of race, gender, sex, religion, power, and humanity, and above all, to tell a capti-vating story. She published 12 novels and one vol-ume of short stories and essays during her lifetime.Butler’s papers, bequeathed to the Huntington, form an incredibly rich and complex collection. They in-clude her very first childhood short stories; extensive drafts and fragments of manuscripts; commonplace books filled with notes, thoughts, and research; cor-respondence; photographs; book contracts; programs from speaking engagements; notes for speeches; and additional ephemera.

The finding aid for the Papers of Octavia E. Butler is available on the Huntington Digital Library and the Online Archive of California. The majority of the col-lection has been cataloged at the item level and the call numbers (bearing the prefix OEB) for the items are provided in the finding aid’s inventory. Informa-tion about admission to the library and instructions for obtaining a reader card is available on the Hun-tington website.

Natalie RussellAssistant Curator of Literary ManuscriptsThe Huntington LibrarySan Marino, Calif.



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SCA NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS

SCA worKShoP rePort--ShArinG ArChivAl ColleCtionS

Forty participants attended the Society of Califor-nia Archivists, Fall Workshop, “Sharing Archival

Collections in the 21st Century: Legal Issues” with Mary Minow, J.D., MLIS, at the San Francisco Judi-cial Council Conference Center in early November. Archivists and librarians are all too familiar with the tasks and concerns associated with solving copy-right riddles and managing the risks of “Fair Use”. The issues can present greater concern when mak-ing decisions regarding the access and management of our collections. Helping us navigate these compli-cated waters was Minow, who serves as Counsel to the Califia Group and is a Library Law consultant on issues of copyright, privacy, intellectual freedom and related access to information legal issues.

Minow’s presentation addressed three main areas: What is copyright? May I copy this item or digi-tize this collection? What are the permissions for copying? She shared her expertise and introduced numerous helpful resources, including her blog, “Li-braryLaw” (http://blog.librarylaw.com/librarylaw/) to assist archivists and librarians in understanding the basic legal framework of the Copyright Law and ways to manage the risks involved with Fair Use.

The Copyright Law of the United States of Ameri-ca (http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html) states in Section 102 the definition of copyright as legal protection that is provided for “..title, in origi-nal works of authorship fixed in any tangible me-dium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.” Copyright protection is assigned the moment something is created, and can remain even after a work vanishes or is “deleted” like a website. However, the answer to who actually owns the copyright can be a little more complex.

Knowing who owns the copyright is a key factor in determining the legality of reproducing a particular work. A work that is “free” of the exclusivity terms of copyright ownership is in the public domain and unlimited copies can be made without legal conse-quence. To understand what works qualify under this definition, Minow shared with us the first of

several acronyms she created for the workshop, “FRIDGE”: Facts, Recipes, Ideas, Dedicated works to the public domain, Government, Expired copy-right. If a library or archives has clear, outright ownership of the copyright of a particular work, then they will exercise ways of controlling it such as charging licensing fees; encryption and other meth-ods of digital rights management.

If there is any question about whether or not a work is in the public domain, then Minow suggests refer-ring to useful resource website, “Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States” (http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm) (otherwise known as “Peter Hirtle’s Chart”). The various scenarios, dates, exceptions, and laws deter-mining when a copyrighted work enters public do-main is laid out in a chart format that makes the detective work for archivists and librarians easier to accomplish.

mary minow

(continued on p. 14)


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If the archives or library of a particular work does not hold the copyright, then you will need to analyze fair use as described in Section 108 of the Copyright Law: Limitations on exclusive rights: Reproduction by libraries and archives. Minow listed factors to determine when the given example is likely or not likely to be considered fair use with “PNAM”: Purpose, Nature, Amount, Market. Weighing these factors is part of the managing the risk when deciding to copy a work whose copyright status might be questionable. For example, some archives and libraries might limit the number of copies that can be done or offer a low-res quality of the image. Another recommendation is to have a “take-down policy” on your institution’s website stating that any published item that unintentionally violates copyright law will be removed upon request of the copyright holder. A good example of disclaimer language can be found on the Library of Congress’s American Memory website (http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html).

After a full day of poking at the beast that is “copyright law”, many participants left the workshop feeling similar to how the reader of this article might feel, which is, the more we understand, the more we feel the need to learn when it comes to matters of copyright and fair use.

To access the wealth of resources Mary Minow presented at the workshop, visit http://bit.ly/1a1Zl5T

Chris Doan, CAArchivist, Presentation ArchivesSisters of the Presentation, San Francisco (PBVM)

SCA WorKShoP (continued from p. 13)

SCA NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS


15

SCA boArd oF direCtorS And CoMMittee ChAirS

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2013-2014

President:James EasonThe Bancroft LibraryUniversity of California, [email protected] (510) 643-2704

Vice President/President Elect:Clay StallsDept. of Archives & Special CollectionsHannon Library, Loyola [email protected](310) 338-5357

Secretary:Tracey PanekAAA Northern California, Nevada and [email protected](925) 279-4831

Treasurer:Leilani Marshall Sourisseau Academy for State & Local History, San Jose State [email protected] (408) 808-2064

Membership Director:Eric MilenkiewiczUniversity of California, [email protected](951) 827-4942

At-Large Board Members:Rebekah KimCalifornia Academy of [email protected]

Tanya HollisLabor Archives and Research CenterSan Francisco State [email protected](415) 405-5570

Immediate Past President:Lisa MillerHoover Institution Library and ArchivesStanford [email protected](650) 724-2961

COMMITEE CHAIRS 2013-2014

Awards:Chuck WilsonUniversity of California, [email protected]

(951) 686-7870

Development:Jeanette BerardThousand Oaks [email protected](805) 449-2660 x228

Jill GoldenHoover Institution Library and [email protected](650) 723-1512

Education:Dee Dee Kramer San Francisco Public [email protected] 415-557-4527

Jennifer GoldmanHuntington [email protected](626) 405-2208

Election:Peter Runge Cline Library, Northern Arizona [email protected] 928-523-6502

Electronic CommunicationsSupriya Wronkiewicz Museum of Performance+Design, San [email protected]

Sue HwangThe Pacific Basin InstitutePomona [email protected](909) 607-7856

Finance & Investment:Leilani Marshall Sourisseau Academy for State & Local History, San Jose State [email protected] (408) 808-2064

Government Affairs:David KellerMetropolitan Water District of Southern [email protected](213) 217-5911

Local Arrangements 2014: Kelley [email protected]

Lisa [email protected]

Membership:Eric MilenkiewiczUniversity of California, [email protected](951) 827-4942

Nominating:Lisa MillerHoover Institution Library and ArchivesStanford [email protected](650) 724-2961

Outreach & Publicity:Brooke M. BlackHuntington [email protected](626) 405-2202

Jessica KnoxCalifornia State [email protected](916) 653-5075

Program:Clay StallsDept. of Archives & Special CollectionsHannon Library, Loyola [email protected](310) 338-5357

Publications:Josh SchneiderStanford [email protected](650) 724-5580

Site Selection:Gabriele CareyHistory Associates, [email protected] (714) 529-3953

David UhlichThe Bancroft Library, University of California, [email protected](916) 616-8003

Western Archives Institute: Jessica KnoxCalifornia State [email protected](916) 653-5075


16

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C A l e n d A r

JAnuAry 1 - MArCh 1, 2014 wEstErn archiVEs institutE 2014 aPPlication PEriod

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